Superb: King James soared to new heights, Bolt blitzed in London and Chinese rising prodigy Sun shone in the pool

Usain Bolt

His dominance would almost be dull if he wasn't so exciting. A year ago, it certainly wouldn't have taken a psychic to predict Bolt would be on this list. The fastest human being the world's ever known swept his way through the Olympic sprints again, winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.

Great Britain

The Brits as a nation had one of the world's all-time great athletic years. Andy Murray's US Open victory broke an ancient dry spell in Grand Slams (and he added an Olympic gold medal while he was at it), Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France and London was home to an enormously successful Olympic Games that saw the host finish third on the medal table.

Rory McIlroy

Golf appears to have found its future. The 21-year-old ended his season with a fuller bank account (he won both the PGA and European money titles) and a fuller trophy shelf (he won four tournaments, including the PGA Championship). He spent much of the year swapping the No 1 ranking with Luke Donald, but spent the past 21 weeks on top.

Chinese swimmers

Goodbye Australia, hello China. The world learned in London that there was a new swimming superpower when China claimed 10 medals, including five gold, led by Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen. Ye was so fast, in fact, that her world-record swim in the 400 IM raised some eyebrows.

LeBron James

Did we just witness the greatest basketball year of all time? James won his third MVP, his first NBA title, the Finals MVP and his second Olympic gold medal as he continued to redefine the game.

Sebastian Vettel

The biggest problem in Vettel's world is that he's won so much, there's pressure to win more. "The hardest thing is to win after you have (already) won," he said recently. He would know - at 25, he's the youngest driver to win three Formula One titles.

Spanish soccer team

The Spanish soccer team showed it may just be the greatest of all-time by winning its second successive European Championship, which was held in Ukraine and Poland, in June and July. The Spaniards put on a master class in the final to stun Italy 4-0 and become the first international team to win three major titles in a row (Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012).

Serena Williams

Perhaps the most surprising member of the list, Williams resurrected a career that could easily have begun its descent. She added two more singles Grand Slam titles - the US Open and Wimbledon - to bring her career total to 15, and claimed her first Olympic singles gold medal, also at Wimbledon.

Lionel Messi

This was the year Messi went from one of the greatest players of all time to the greatest player of all time. Still just 25 years old, the striker has already scored a record 91 goals this year for Argentina and Barcelona. He'll almost certainly win his fourth Ballon d'Or.

Michael Phelps

After a disappointing start to the Olympics - he finished fourth in the 400m IM - Phelps went on to have what would be a fantastic Games by anybody's standard but his own. He won four gold medals to bring his career total to 18, and six medals overall to bring his career total to 22. Both are Olympic records.

Shocking: Armstrong's reputation in tatters, tears and soccer riots in Egypt and Chinese hurdler Liu took a fall

Lance Armstrong

In one of the greatest sporting scandals of all time, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was stripped of all of his Tour titles and banned from professional cycling. The USADA found him guilty of using and distributing performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong, a cancer survivor, did not challenge the ruling, which was supported by damaging testimony from many former teammates.

Shanghai Shenhua

Money can't buy me love or success in the Chinese Super League - if you are Shanghai Shenhua. The soccer side with grand ambitions spent squillions to bring in former Chelsea superstars Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba only to finish an underwhelming ninth on the CSL table and even endure a players' strike over pay. The two ex-Blues are also likely to leave the club for greener pastures.

NHL 2012-13

So where did it go? Any ugly labor dispute between the National.Hockey League and its players has caused the 2012-13 season to all but disappear without a puck being hit.

China basketball

Well, at least it made the Olympics, but that was about all Bob Donewald's team was able to achieve as it put in a lame, winless performance in London. No Yao, so it was ouch for a team now in need of major rebuilding.

Female shot putter

Shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk was stripped of her Olympic gold medal and banned for a year after failing a drugs test at the London Games. The Belarusian won with a throw of 21.36m, but officials found metenolone in a urine sample she provided. The ban was lenient as she was apparently unaware her coach had drugged her food. New Zealand's Valerie Adams was elevated from silver to gold.

Olympic badminton

Bad, bad girls. Four women's badminton teams were disqualified at the Olympics for deliberately throwing matches to get better draws. The culprits included China's world No 1 ranked duo of Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang.

Egypt soccer tragedy

Seventy-four people died and at least 1,000 were injured when soccer fans invaded the pitch after an Egyptian match between al-Masry and Al Ahli in Port Said. The tragedy sparked riots in the capital, Cairo, as protesters blamed the inaction of security forces for the February catastrophe.

Penn State

Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse at his June trial. Some of the offenses happened on the college campus. Legendary coach Joe Paterno was fired over the scandal. He died of lung cancer in January

Junior Seau

Champion NFL linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest in May. The death of the 12-time Pro Bowl selection, who played with San Diego, Miami and New England, raised even greater concerns about the effects of concussions on NFL players.

Liu Xiang

Disaster struck Liu Xiang again when he hit the first hurdle and fell in the 110m event at the London Games. After a painfully long comeback from an Achilles injury, which forced him off the track at his home Games in Beijing in 2008, China's track hopes were riding on the 2004 Olympic champion, only to be shattered at the first barrier.

Photos by Agencies and China Daily

(China Daily 12/28/2012 page22)